Technology development and market competition are becoming even more competitive every day. High performance, quality assurance and security have become essential to successfully implementing software products and services.
However, most companies’ only trying to create an in-house team of quality control experts but sometimes it faces some challenges. The alternative outsourcing method can increase development efficiency, reduce costs and improve product quality.
In this guide we’ll cover such issues as QA outsourcing for companies, how it works and why it’s essential to outsource QA in time before a disaster happens.
What is QA outsourcing?
Outsourced QA testing, in turn, involves entrusting some parts or the entire scope of software quality testing to an external supplier. The vendor then provides a team of professional testers and the relevant services as agreed.
Usually, the cooperation is ongoing, but a more popular option is project-based cooperation. You can find relevant testers and learn about the cooperation model by visiting their website.
Since the outsourcing team members are assigned a task, they must comply with the project requirements and be highly attentive to all details. This includes using all available methodologies, tools, and testing requirements.
What happens when you outsource quality assurance?
Let’s take a look at what happens when you outsource a product in time:
- You get access to talented QA engineers collaborating. Finding a sound QA engineer for a project takes work. Software testing services companies solve this problem by forming teams for particular sectors and assigning tasks and deadlines accordingly;
- You free up internal resources. Quality control is a complex task, as it usually involves complex tasks that may not be related to the company’s operations. Therefore, outsourcing quality assurance gives your company more space to concentrate and create a quality product;
- You apply the practice by gaining experience. Quality assurance standards are constantly changing as they move forward, especially in cybersecurity. Always trying to follow and keep up with new trends and methodologies takes work, as it requires real dedication and inspiration. QA outsourcing shows the picture like this: hiring specialists who are very deeply immersed in this field and will give their quality of work and guarantee for your project;
- You minimize risks. This means that specialists who do not have the appropriate level of expertise may overlook a minor flaw that can lead to a bad result. Such cases are sporadic. But by choosing a team of experienced QA engineers, you can forget about unnoticed flaws and downtime. The team will do everything necessary to ensure the highest quality of your product;
- You save money. It is costly to create and maintain a QA team. Therefore, outsourcing QA is precisely what you need to avoid the costs of finding, hiring, and maintaining quality assurance specialists. This will allow you to start a project quickly and provide a guarantee and cost savings.
Software testing outsourcing models
Companies use various forms of outsourced QA testing. Today, testing outsourcing projects have become more standardized and structured. However, there are two main models of outsourcing QA services: traditional testing services and specialized testing services. Let’s take a closer look at what both models entail.
Traditional testing services
Traditional testing services (TTS) are performed by in-house QA specialists, with a high probability of outsourced engineers being involved. They involve testing the entire product before releasing the software and reporting any defects to the development team, which then fixes them.
TTS has been used for a very long time. Still, it has several drawbacks, including the difficulty of managing and the inability to scale, which is unacceptable for projects that expect growth or improvements in the process.
However, the Testing Center of Excellence (TCoE) is essential to TTS. TCoE takes full responsibility for the quality of the product, which helps to create high-quality products quickly.
Specialized testing services
Specialized testing services (STS) are designed as an alternative to traditional testing services, which involve outsourcing the testing of certain software elements to third-party vendors with relevant experience in this area. The largest STS providers are testing organizations regularly providing these services to various companies.
However, it is also possible to hire testers for small, short-term projects or work with crowd-testing vendors if the project’s primary goal is to verify the usability and flawlessness.
Thus, outsourced software quality assurance is gaining immense popularity among companies, as everyone wants to save their financial resources on testing but still enjoy the benefits of timely quality assurance.
QA outsourcing can be an excellent solution for every software development and testing project. We hope our guide has provided enough information for you to outsource QA testing confidently.
Article and permission to publish here provided by Hassanayaz Hassanayaz. Originally written for Supply Chain Game Changer and published on April 18, 2024.
Cover photo by Tool., Inc on Unsplash.